On A Night Like This
by 10ismydoctor
Summary: Mulder convinces Scully to go with him to the FBI New Year's party.


It was the first time Mulder had been invited to an FBI New Year's party. He wasn't exactly the most popular agent in the bureau. That's why he was so surprised when he received an official invite.

Normally, a room full of people who either hated him, pitied him or laughed at him would be the last place on earth where he would want to be. But at the same time, he couldn't resist the temptation of pissing all these people off by his mere presence.

All he need was someone to go through it with him. He couldn't bare it alone. It took a lot of hard work to convince Scully to accept her own invitation and go with him. The negotiation involved some failed attempts at charms on his side, and a lot of eye rolling on her side, but in the end, he won.

He saw her the moment he put foot inside the crowded ballroom. In the middle of all those fancy, boring people, she stood out like a beam of light. She was so different. So beautiful.

She was standing at a corner, clearly bored. She was wearing a blue dress that made her big eyes pop out even more than usual. Her red hair was up in a bun, and Mulder had the sudden urge to kiss every inch of bare skin on her neck. He shook the thought away, knowing he could never do something like that and risk ruining the single most important thing in his life: their friendship.

He breathed in, trying to collect his thoughts. He grabbed two glasses of champagne and walked towards her.

She felt awkward in her long blue dress and her rather uncomfortable shoes. Mulder was nowhere to be found, and she was getting more bored by the second. She contemplated the idea of walking away from that suffocating place, but then she would have had nowhere to go, and she wasn't gonna spend New Year's Eve alone. How did her life became so lonely?

But than, she saw him. He was walking towards her, holding two glasses of champagne. Every bit of annoyance she had felt till that moment suddenly disappeared when she looked at him. He was looking at her, his piercing green eyes shining under the dim light of the ballroom, the smile on his face was warm, comforting, it felt like home to her.

He was wearing a tuxedo that fit him perfectly, making him look so handsome she really couldn't help but stare at him, her mouth suddenly very dry. Had he always been so tall?

"Miss, would you like a glass of champagne?" he asked, offering her one of the glasses. She tried to regain her composure, reminding herself that it was just Mulder. No reason to feel so strange.

"You're late," she finally said, taking the glass from him and sipping the champagne, hoping alcohol could at least justify the heat she was feeling in her stomach.

"You look beautiful." The words came out naturally, as if it was the only thing he could say to her in that moment. The only thing that made sense. He saw her blush and avoid his eyes. He felt like an idiot. He needed to fix this. As he always did, he turned the awkwardness into a joke.

"Now it's the time where you said 'you look great too, Mulder!'"

She looked at him again with a little smile, "You look great too, Mulder."

"Thank you. I always appreciate spontaneous compliments."

She laughed. He was good at making her laugh, even when she wanted to punch him. It was actually his best asset on those occasions.

A slow, cheesy song filled the air. He saw people around them holding hands, and suddenly he had a crazy idea.

"So, do you wanna dance?"

"What?" She was sure she must have heard him wrong. But then again, tonight seemed to be full of surprises for her.

"It's a ballroom. Don't people dance in ballrooms?" She couldn't say no to that smile, so she nodded. He took the glass away from her, next to his own. Then he held out his hand to her, and she took it without a word, ready to follow him to the end of the earth.

She let him lead the way through the crowd of dancing couples. She felt like a teenage girl at her prom. She felt silly and strangely free, and she knew it wasn't all because of the champagne.

Mulder stopped and turned to face her. He placed the hand he was still holding on his chest, tightening his grip, almost as if he was worried she was gonna change her mind. His other hand was now placed firmly on her back as they started swaying, a bit awkwardly at first, avoiding each other's eyes.

Scully could feel his heart beat under the palm of her hand. It was a bit faster than normal. She wondered if it was because of her.

"I really hope I'm not gonna step on your toes or something," he said, trying to break the tension a bit. She looked up at him and studied his beautiful face, thinking about all the pain that was hidden behind the eyes that were now locked with hers.

She wasn't sure if there was a definition for the way she loved him. They were more than friends. More than lovers. She had risked everything for him: her life, her job, even parts of her beliefs. And she would do it all over again, every bit of it. And she knew for a fact that he felt the same way. He had proven it to her time and time again.

They were connected by an unbreakable string. She instinctively knew that no matter what, their lives were forever entangled together. She couldn't picture a future without him. She never felt that more clearly than in that moment, in his arms.

He moved closer and closer, as if he wanted to kiss her. She held her breath, waiting, expectant and scared.

All he wanted to do right now was kiss her. She was the most beautiful thing in the world, and the way she was looking at him made him wonder if she wanted this just as much as he did.

He was completely in love with her. He had never saw it coming. Before she appeared in his life out of nowhere, he had been so lonely. Everyone thought he was crazy. He was fighting his battles alone. But she changed everything for him. She stood by his side when no one else had. She trusted him. She helped him fight his personal war, risking her own life in the process. She made him a better agent, a better man. She was the only person he trusted with his life. She was the most important person in the world for him, and he couldn't bare the thought of losing her.

He moved closer to her face, and she didn't pull back. But then he panicked. Everything was so complicated in her life, maybe their relationship was supposed to be simple. He pulled back and looked away, too ashamed to face her.

She was confused and disappointed, but at the same time even relieved. Maybe it was for the best. What they had was too important to complicate it like that.

She rested her head on his chest, closed her eyes and breathed him in. He pulled her as close as him as possible and tenderly kissed her hair. They just staid there, swaying and holding each other. Neither one of them could think of a better way to welcome a new year.


End file.
